Disappearing-door structure



f F. H. SCHWARTZ DISARPEARING DOOR STRUCTURE Filed Sent. 1923 INVENTOR.

A TTORNE Y.

Patented May 2%, 192 3.

UNITE srATEs "FREDERICK H. SCHWARTZ, or ooLu BUs, onto.

' I DISAPPEARING-DOOR STRUCTURE.

Application filed September To all whom it mayv concern. I

Be it known that I, FREDERICK H.

SCHWARTZ, a citizen of the United States of America, residing at Columbus, in the,

county of Franklin and State of Ohio, have invented certain'new and, useful Improvements in .Disappearing-Door Structures, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to disappearing door; structure, for display cabinets, show cases-=- and the like. It has to do with the provision of a novel and particularly simple means for guiding and supporting. the weight of the sliding door structure.

In thev past, various methods and means have been used for efi'ecting the swinging of display cabinet doors from a closed posi tion to an open disappearing position. Various types of displaycabinets or cases ave been employed, which usually have the sides and back constructed of glass panels and the front closed by doors which move from closed position to an open position in-. side the case and parallel with thesides' thereof.

These sliding doors as commonly employed consist of two different but common designs. In one type, the doors are first swung to extreme open position and then slid inside the case while in the other typethe doors are swung laterally and inwardly with one continuous motion. In-both of these types considerabledifiiculty has been experienced in-the swinging of the doors due? to excessive friction and binding action as the door guides move in their respective tracks, Furthermore, in both types of' doors the width of the display cabinet case is unnecessarily restricted by the relative depth of such cabinets or cases for the reason that Various means have been connected tothe rear part of the door, both at the top. and the bottom, for the purpose of guidingv the door, preventing it fromtilting and in some cases forming a stile or separate pivoting means. These means have always been connected to the rear part of the door and have extended rearwardly for some distance," thus making it necessary to have the cabinet of a materially greater depth than the width of one door. 1

My invention has to do primarily with the provision of means for supporting the weight of a sliding door with very little friction and for positively guiding the door so that it can be swung open or closed with ing and supporting ofsuch door.

7, 1923. Serial No. 661,516.-

a free action and without binding. Furthermore, bymy device the effective-weight ofadisplay cabinet. door is counteracted by means which absorbs all such efiective weight with, comparatively little friction the door regardless. of whether the door is moved straightoutfrom thertcabinet or in a curved path and in. one continuous motion.-

and such device is also 'eflective to guide Furthermore, my. invention is such that the depth of the cabinetineedonlybe limited by the approximate width ofthedoor itself. More specificallyymy invention comprises a guide and weight supporting means for a sliding -doorstructure, which door structure. is preferably offthe common type wherein the a fulcrum of the door is placed off center in such a mannerasto cause the rear portion of the door, to be tiltedupwardly- 'My guiding and weight supporting means is preferably adaptedto be attached to the rear uppercorner ofthe door as a single compact-unit which takes, up very little-space andwhich is'easily applied or dismantled. The guiding. means is so connected to the door as to bear a fixed relative position thereto while i the door weightsupporting means is prefer ably. 'pivotallyv mounted on said guiding" means'and separated therefrom only by such a distance as iwill give it a freeturning movement." Y I i The preferred embodiment of myinvention is shown inthe' accompanying drawings wherein similar characters of reference designate corresponding parts wherein:

Figural is a'fragmenta'ry sideelevation of a' swinging'or sliding door structure with l my device, applied thereto and showing the relative positioning of the guiding and sup porting means. I I a Figure 2 is a plan View partially in section of the structure shown in Figure 1 and showing the mannerof freely swinging the door relative to the guiding and supporting means. In the drawings the preferred embodiment of my invention is shown in combination with a display cabinet door which may be designated 1. This cabinet door 1 is merely fragmentarily shown for the reason I that my invention relates solely to the guidprovided ,with suitable tracks both in the It will top and bottom for the suitable guiding of the doors from a position parallel with the sides of the cabinet toa closed contacting position in the front of the cabinet and at right angles to the sides of the cabinet. As far as the posit-ion of the novel device of my invention is concerned these doors may swing inwardly and laterally with one continuous motion in the well-known manner or the may slide parallel with the sides of the ca inet and then swing to closed position about a pivot at the front corners of the cabinet.

As shown, the door is guided in its outward and inward movement by means of a guide 3 which moves in a track 4 formed in the upper part of the cabinet and extendingparallel with the sides thereof. In the drawingsthe side of the cabinet is diagrammatically shown and designated by the numeral 5, while the rear wall of the cabinet is diagrammatically shown as at 6.

The guide 3 preferably consists of a freely rotatable bearing or collar which slidably fits within the track 1 and which is mounted upon a pin 7 carried by a suitable bracket 8. This bracket 8 preferably comprises two extensions 9 forming a bearing for the guide guide 3 and its roller bearing 13.

pin 7 and a rearwardly projecting arm 10 which is secured to the door by means of suitable screws or fastening means 11. The front part of the bracket 8 is also preferably secured to the door by means of a screw 12.

The door 1, the back part of which normally tends to tilt towards the top of the cabinet, is supported by means of a roller bearing 13 which is freely movable within the track 4: and contacts with the top thereof. This roller bearing 13 is pivotally mounted upon'the guide pin 7 by means of a suitable yoke 14. As best shown in Figure 1, the yoke 14 and the bearing arms 9 of the bracket 8 are in alignment and are so aligned for the convenient reception'of the guide in 7. This roller bearing 13 is of relative y large diameter so as to reduce all friction to a minimum and is only spaced apart from the guide 3 as will permit its free turning relative to such guide. Referring especially to Figure 2 the door 1 and the arm 10 of the'bracket 8 are shown in an angular position relative to the track 4 and the general line of movement of f zhe he swinging of the door 1 may be independent of any movement of the guide 3 and the supporting bearing 13. It will thus be obvious that the guide bearing 3 and the supporting roller bearing 13 may be mounted upon the door as a single unit which is of such form as will be easily attached to any door and which may be equally dismantled by simply removing the guide pin 7 In operation when it is desired to close the door or doors, the same is moved from the position shown in Figurel towards the front of the display cabinet. The guide bearing 3 which is preferably in alignment with a similar bearing in the base of the door, will move in the track 4 and thus guide the door in its sliding movement. As the door is preferably supported by anoffcenter castor or other means, the rear of the door will be forced upwardly and this upward movement or weight of the door will be counteracted and absorbed by the roller bearing 13. Regardless of whether the-door 1 is pulled straight forward or is swung in a greater angle, as indicated in Figure 2, the roller bearing 13 will remain inalignment with track 4 forthe reason that it is pivotally mounted upon the bearing pin 7. Thus in any type of door the roller bearing 13 will support the weight of the door until it reaches the end of its outward stroke, at which point the door will be in closed position parallel with the front of the cabinet and will be positively prevented from tilting in this closed position by the guide 3 which will contact with the sides of the straight track 4. The supporting and guiding of the door when moving from closed to open position will obviously be accomplished in the same manner as above described.

It will be seen I have provided a novel desuch compact form that it may be applied to the doors as a single unit and which will at the same time take up such a small spaoein the rear of the door that the width of each door may be substantially equal to the depth of the cabinet. It will further be obvious that I have provided a means for positively guiding and positioning the door at all times and at the same time have provided 05 vice for a disappearing door structure of.

means for effectively supporting the door.

whereby it'can be operated freely without binding and with practically no friction.

From the illustrated embodiment of the.

invention herewith disclosed it will be obvious to all those familiar with the art that.

various shapes, sizes and combinations of guiding and supporting structure may bev provided and it will also be clear that such combined guiding and supporting structure may be mounted upon the door in different manners as may be desired.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

1. Sliding door structure for display cabinets comprising a track, means for guiding the door by engaging said track and means.

1,&94,815

structure for display cabinets of a single unit mounted upon an upper corner of the door and comprising guiding and. supporting means, the shaft of said guiding means forming a pivoted connection between the supporting means and the door.

3. Sliding door structure comprising as a unit, a bracket, door guiding and supporting means, and a single pin forming a bearing for said guiding means and securing said 10 guiding and supporting means to said bracket.

In testimony whereof I have aflixed my signature.

FREDERICK H. SCHWARTZ. 

